User blog:Jbracer2/Total Drivin AI Behaviour Study: Scotland 1
Introduction: 'Scotland 1 is the introductory level to Total Drivin and its global counterparts. The AI here could be more exciting but are not exactly dull for a Level 1 race, and this is mostly thanks to AI Rossi. I will delve into each of the eight different AI drivers' performances in Scotland 1, including anything noteworthy. A reminder to all that my findings apply to Total Drivin and AI performance can vary slightly between Total Drivin and Grand Tour Racing '98. For a new player this blog will be difficult to understand, and I would suggest visiting this page to comprehend it better: https://gtr98.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/hometracker/. 'AI Xu: AI Xu is not a strong contender in this level at all. He is the only AI in this level who is guaranteed to end up in 3 different HomeTracker roles depending on who the player races as. If he starts as 4th HT because the player has chosen to race as Roberts, Lumiere, Ahmed or Baptiste, he will be passed by both Non-HomeTrackers but will remain ahead of AI Ivanov. However, if the player chooses to be one of the Non-HomeTrackers (NHTs), Rossi or Morgen, then AI Xu will spend the whole race battling with AI Ivanov with the potential to finish last of the AI as the two constantly switch roles between 5th and 6th HT (as 6th HT has a higher set speed). Even worse, if the player chooses Ivanov then AI Xu starts the race as 5th HT and is doomed to finish last of the AI due to the absence of a 6th HT. AI Rossi: 'Non-HomeTracker AI Rossi is the strongest AI driver in this race. He will have an average first lap, reaching the mid-positions after Lap 1 before speeding up considerably in the last lap and usually overtaking the top 3 HomeTrackers to come home in 1st place. This is almost a guarantee unless he has a disastrous time trying to overtake the other slower cars on his way to the race lead. 'AI Morgen: 'There is no doubt that AI Morgen is weaker in this race than his Non-HomeTracker counterpart AI Rossi. AI Morgen certainly does not lack speed, but the issue is how careful he is when cornering, braking considerably more than drivers such as AI Rossi and AI Roberts. This means he can only usually pass up to the 4th HT before lacking any further progress. 'AI Ahmed: AI Ahmed is an unusual one in this level. He normally starts P3 behind AI Lumiere and AI Roberts (2nd and 1st respectively). His driving accuracy seems to be better than AI Lumiere's and this helps him to catch up slightly. Even better for him is when AI Lumiere collides with AI Roberts, making way for the red machine. However, there tends to be a higher chance of AI Lumiere finishing ahead of him despite this as there is no speed advantage between 2nd and 3rd HT roles. However, if the player were to pick Roberts and AI Ahmed was transferred to a 2nd HT role, he would put up a strong showing against the French driver. 'AI Baptiste: '''AI Baptiste seems to spend the majority of his race fighting with AI Morgen, often losing out provided AI Baptiste started in his usual starting slot of 4th place (4th HT) and not higher due to the player choosing to race as Ahmed, Lumiere or Roberts. If the player were to choose one of the 3 aforementioned teams, AI Baptiste is a much weaker replacement for AI Ahmed as 3rd HT. 'AI Ivanov: 'AI Ivanov is the worst AI driver in this level. He starts the race in 7th place in the 5th HomeTracker role and crawls around the circuit at a ridiculously low speed. At the start, everyone can be seen pulling away from him, such is the speed difference. The only hope for AI Ivanov in not finishing last is for the player to pick Rossi or Morgen, as AI Ivanov will then spend the race battling with AI Xu and the possibility of beating him across the line. His Lap 2 speed of 60mph is the slowest in the game for any AI driver. 'AI Roberts: 'AI Roberts performs very well in this race. He has an extremely dominant first lap, tending to maintain his distance to AI Lumiere before seriously slowing on Lap 2 to allow AI Rossi to complete his comeback. He normally falls just short of winning as AI Rossi has the tendency to overtake him around the forested area of the course towards the end of the lap. Nonetheless, his performance is strong. 'AI Lumiere: '''AI Lumiere has an interesting race in his 2nd lap. His 2nd lap speed of 78mph is slightly faster than AI Roberts' 75mph, meaning he will usually catch the blue and yellow car, but more often than not will fail to overtake him. The battling between the two AI drivers makes it easier for Rossi to catch up and win. If the player was to pick Roberts in this level then AI Lumiere would make for a much less successful 1st HT in comparison with AI Roberts, as he makes more mistakes. Here is my table of results which I created during my study of the AI Behaviour in Scotland 1. I chose a different team each time, allowing the AI to race without interference from myself and recording where each AI driver finished. SC1-1 is the first race and SC1-2 is a new race having restarted with a different team and so on. N/A indicates the team I was using for that race. Category:Blog posts